BETTER HOMES NEWSLETTER

Guanacaste to Get Big Boost in Hotel Rooms

Nine Hotel Projects And Up to 3500 Rooms Planned.

Guanacaste’s northern Pacific coast will have an additional 3500 high-end hotel rooms within the next three years, according to at least nine major hotel and resort projects either under way, or being planned.

Hotel chains like Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, Regent International Hotels, Rosewood Hotels and Resorts, JW Marriott, Aman Resorts International, the Ritz Carlton, One and Only Resorts and the Hilton Hotels Corporation have all either broken ground, are in the permitting stage, or are negotiating build hotels from Hacienda Pinilla, south of Tamarindo, to Peninsula Papagayo.

The hotels and resorts represent a combined investment of nearly one billion dollars in a strech of Costa Rica’s coastline less than 60 kilometers (about 38 miles) long.

Most are planning up-market, five-star, hotels and resorts, which would relieve the region’s critical room shortage and create anywhere between 7000 and 13,000 jobs.

“There is an extraordinary amount of jockeying for position right at the moment,” said one hotel insider this week. “And the industry loves it because of the severe shortage of hotel rooms during the high season.”

A survey last year by the Cámara Nacional de Turismo (CANATUR) of 60 small, medium-sized and large hotels right across the country showed about 45 per cent of requests for rooms were being turned down during the high season.

In fact, the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT) estimates they need about 49,000 rooms to accommodate all the tourists coming to Costa Rica.

“….which means there must be 18,192 new rooms to be distributed amongst the existing tourist base and the construction of new accommodations,” it found in its latest report.

And with most hotels in Guanacaste reporting occupancies in the past three months running between 90 and 95 per cent, the trend is being felt here.

In fact, Sildelau Salcedo, General Manager of the Paradisus Playa Conchal Resort in Brasilito, Guanacaste, estimated they rejected as much as three per cent of their business. He says they lost about $2.2 million in two years.

“We found we were rejecting a lot of business because in the high season we simply did not have the rooms to give customers,” he said this week.

Last month, and a little ahead of schedule, the hotel opened another 102 rooms, bringing capacity to 406 rooms. The rooms, an additional, 120-seat restaurant, a new pool and a conference center represented a total investment of nearly $20 million.

Desarrollos Hoteleros Guanacaste, S.A, the parent company of the Playa Conchal resort and golf course development, says they will also add a second hotel, probably beginning sometime this year. It will include 200 to 250 rooms and could be operational within 30 months.

“In fact our master plan calls for two more big hotels, and one medium-size or boutique hotel,” said Ana Saborío, Chief Executive Officer of DHG.

“We have been working on permits, designs and how we might structure a deal for some time,” she said. “We have had conversations with several hotel groups, but these kind of negotiations take time. I can’t say exactly when we will start building.”

The ICT says there are 6569 rooms in 299 hotels in northern Guanacaste and 1414 rooms in 130 hotels towards the south. It counts 4571 rooms in 294 hotels on the Central Pacific.

For its part, the Guanacaste Chamber of Tourism believes it needs, as a matter of urgency, more than 1000 additional rooms. If that is the case, then it is about to get more than it bargained for.

Grupo Roble, the El Salvador-based conglomerate, broke ground late last year and has now finished moving 50,000 cubic meters of dirt around on the five hectares of land upon which will be built a JW Marriott hotel. Foundations for the 310-room resort, inside the Hacienda Pinilla complex, will begin this month.

Originally, the developers had planned a first phase of 180 rooms, but quickly announced 250 rooms. Now they are building 310.

“They decided to build everything all at the same time,” said Mauricio Estrada, General Manager of Hacienda Pinilla this week.

“Rooms are a big problem in the area and I guess the developers see the potential for hotel rooms,” he added. “They have a very aggressive construction plan. They want to be open in 2008.”

It is not just hotel rooms. Most developments are now incorporating condominiums and villas, which the developers then manage. The Grupo Roble project is no different – it will include 200 condominiums.

Developers behind the giant Hyatt Hotel and Resort to be built in Brasilito are also looking to break ground on their $300 million project early this year.

Phase one will include all 320 hotel rooms of what will be known as the Hyatt Regency Azulera Resort and Spa, as well as the Greg Norman-designed, 18-hole, golf course.

Representatives of what is known as the Rosewood Project will be in Guanacaste later this month, for what is now believed to be a completed deal.

The deal has been on the table for more than six years, but is now understood to be signed, for 60-hectares (150 acres) of property on Playa Guachipelin, owned by Roger Hall, of Hallmark Properties, a developer out of California.

Certainly, a master plan of the area, cost analyses, and construction schedules are ready and waiting for the 80-room hotel, which will include 12 deluxe suites and one presidential suite. The project was to have been two phases, but will now go ahead as one, and include an additional 60 villas of two, three and four bedrooms. There will be a further 20 estate lots plus a spa and a fitness center.

Both Aman Resorts International and One and Only Resorts are understood to be in negotiations with Revolution LLC to site a resort on 216 hectares (about 535 acres) of land in Playa Hermosa.

Steve Case, Chairman of Exclusive Resorts, Co-Founder of America Online, Director of Case Foundation and owner and Chairman of Revolution LLC bought the land for a reported $42 million in 2005.

But one of the most ambitious projects is that by the RIU Hotel Chain, a 53-year-old Spanish chain, which has bought 240 hectares (about 600 acres) fronting Matapalo in northern Guanacaste.

RIU paid an estimated $26 million for the land, and have begun clearing.

Sources close to the deal say the group will build three hotels, with a total of up to 2000 rooms. They want to begin building this year.

Late last year, two Minnesota developers announced they are to build a $120 million, 150-room luxury hotel on Guanacaste’s Papagayo Peninsula.

Richard Pakonen and Blaine Kirchert are to team up with Regent International Hotels and the respected Costa Rican architect, Ronald Zurcher, to build and manage what will be known as the Regent Punta de Papagayo. It will include the hotel, 86 condominiums, 20 luxury estates and a giant spa. The complex will rest on some of the last remaining concession land within the Papagayo tourism project known as Polo Turí­stico.

(Originally published by The Beach Times)

Liberia Airport Statistics Go Sky High in January

More than 44,000 passengers came through Liberia’s Daniel Oduber International Airport in January, shattering all previous records.

Aviation and tourism officials, who had optimistically predicted a modest ten per cent increase on last January’s passenger traffic were caught by surprise by the 24 per cent increase from the same month last year.

“This kind of increase is very good news for us,” said Mauricio Cespedes, Executive Director, of the Guanacaste Chamber of Tourism.

“We had a meeting at the airport this week to discuss the idea of a concession to run the facility, and to decide what priority we should place on that,” he said.

“These figures certainly help us.”

Only once before, since officials began accurately collating airport statistics in 2001, has the number of passengers exceeded 40,000. That was in March of last year when 43,900 passengers arrived and departed the facility.

The announcement was a great start for the industry which saw figures slump for the first time in October last year, dropping 19 per cent. They now believe passenger movement in February will be around 46,000, up again, and could hit 50,000 in March. They expect nearly 400,000 for the full year.

As many as a million passengers could use the airport by 2017, the same statistics show.

The aviation industry’s future estimates for the country’s fastest growing airport came as the tourist industry confirmed 351,515 passengers had used the airport in 2006 --- 18 per cent more than the previous year.

The biggest user of the airport in January was Delta Airlines which carried 11,692 passengers, closely followed by Continental with 11,422 passengers. American Airlines carried 8053. There are now 40 direct, scheduled and charter flights between Liberia and the United States each week.

The Costa Rican government announced late last year it would up-grade and operate Liberia’s Daniel Oduber International Airport under a concession agreement.

The Minister of Public Works and Transport, Karla González, said she expected about $13 million to be spent on upgrading the terminal facilities, taxi-ways bringing aircraft to and from the runway, and parking aprons.

The tender document, outlining all the requirements of the concession, would be released next month.

“The airport concession process is an urgent issue,” Mr González said in making the announcement.

“In March we plan to put the concession out to tender so that the airport can start operating in accordance with the needs of the region.”

The tender will only include land-side facilities, such as the terminal area --- something local aviation officials had argued for. Others wanted to see the whole airport put out to concession, but Ms González seemed to quash that idea.

“All the operational aspects of the airport will remain in government hands,” she said. “We want to continue doing that. We will also continue to have responsibility for security.”

The exact design for the airport, which would come from the government, is still being discussed, but it is likely to be a terminal of between 8000 and 10,000 square meters, including offices, ticketing, check-in, arrival and departure gates, duty free shops and restaurants.

While Daniel Oduber Airport gets busier, Juan Santamariá International Airport continues to lose traffic. Liberia finished 2006 17.7 per cent higher than the previous year, while San José dropped 6.4 per cent to 2,656,072 arrivals and departures. That meant total traffic dropped about 118,000 passengers for the year, which is one of the first true measures that tourism in Costa Rica is dropping slightly.

Experts are still mystified as to the reason, although most point to a combination of factors --- poor roads, rising crime, the cost of gasoline and therefore airline tickets, plus the general increase in costs, particularly in Guanacaste.

Costa Rica’s neighbors, Panama and Nicaragua, have both been investing heavily in tourism, anxious to cash in on the lucrative Central American tourism market.

(Originally published by The Beach Times)

$15M Papagayo Marina Breaks Ground

There are well documented 3,000 year-old land routes through Mesoamerica , but of sea routes, very little is known. What is likely is that peoples of Chibcha origins (the tribes that extended from the Colombian northeast through Panama, Nicaragua and Honduras) settled the Guanacaste coast thousands of years ago. They populated the coastline along Bahía Culebra, and reaped the ocean’s bounty without straying far from the coast. We know they must have been seafarers because there are missing links. Archeological pieces have been found in Guanacaste which are outside known terrestrial commercial routes from as far away as the Chiapas region in central Mexico.
It’s also likely maritime routes existed, but the humidity of the tropics has a way of disintegrating organic elements like woods, textiles and fibers. What is known is that in Manzanillo Bay in the depths of Bahía Culebra, there was once an Indian settlement. The peoples lived on a rocky face overlooking the beach and could probably watch the giant rooster fish send panicked schools of jureles or jacks skimming across the calm sea, getting trapped in the rock estanques or fishing traps, as the tide receded from the coast.
The people are long gone, buried next to pottery and jade. All that remains on the beach are curved lines of rock where the fishing traps used to be.
Five hundred years on, the fish still fly. Five hundred years on, a new settlement is taking hold.
The Marina Papagayo has broken ground. You can read more on page six.

Pre-Columbian ruins and rare coral reefs were just a couple of the obstacles that had to be overcome by the developers of the $15 million Marina Papagayo, to be built on Playa Sombrero in Bahía Culebra, Guanacaste.

But finally, after a three-and-a-half year odyssey, the 318-slip marina , just the second along the country’s Pacific coast, and the first port of entry into Costa Rica from the north, broke ground earlier this month.

Roberto Kopper Orlich, Director of the Marina Papagayo Project since the start, has much to smile about, for the moving of the first stone was something of an apotheosis.

It involved navigating through environmental pitfalls as diverse as how to treat waste water without dumping the remains into the ocean, how to move hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of land-fill without affecting marine ecosystems, and how to preserve the ruins of Pre-Columbian fishing traps.

“We can’t do development as if we were an island. There must be synergies between conservation and development,” Mr Kopper explained during a tour of the site.

The pristine beauty of the property is reflected in the aquamarine waters around the jetty under construction. A meter long dark-backed rooster fish swam unhurried, centimeters below the surface. Minutes later a panicked school of silvery jurules or jacks swooshed over the still waters towards the shore.

Ironically, the fish were being corralled onto the ruins of Pre-Columbian estanques or ponds, one of the carefully considered impediments of building a marina in Playa Sombrero.

The estanques were circular stone holding ponds that worked as fishing traps with the tides. They were once stone walls maybe as high as a meter that formed natural enclosures.

What remains are piles of stones in 20-meter-long semi-circular lines which can only be seen at certain times of the year during extreme low tides.

Dr Silvia Salazar González, the project’s archeologist, explained there are 26 remains of these natural holding tanks in the bay and five at the marina site.

“The bay is a natural port. It has been used for centuries and in Pre-Columbian times,” said Dr Salazar. “Archeological remains from other regions further north have been found and the biological richness is tied to the adaptation of human settlements.”

“Because the ruins are not tied to archeological finds, it is difficult to date them,” says Dr Salazar, adding it is assumed that they date from 500 AD and were probably built by peoples of Chibcha origin.

The marina project has embraced the historical implications, and has made the ponds the pillar of the project.

“It is the first time an archeological resource has been incorporated into development,” says Dr Salazar pointing to the two ruins that will be at the center of the marina. The area will be dredged and the fishing tramp ruins will be visible year-round.

Sigfrido Jiménez, museum specialist of the project, oversaw the conservation efforts.

“We proposed a conservation plan, as opposed to a restoration,” he said. “The idea is to stop the deterioration of the site and to promote education through the sharing of archeological history with the visitors.”

Ponds or tramps, four to five of them at the eastern side of the marina, will be preserved as a sub-aquatic heritage. It’s the first such conservation work in the country.

“The ponds have been mapped and covered by a geo-textile sheet which is permeable and maintains humidity conditions,” explains Mr Jimenez. “It will then be covered by a four-meter-high fill. There will be no construction atop, but a boardwalk area of pavers.”

Since most of the archeological sites in the Bay have been ransacked by treasure hunters or “guaqueros” for centuries, little remains to be uncovered. But at the marina site, the archeological history of the site will be documented and presented in a Visitor’s Information area.

“This will generate ties to the heritage of the area,” said Mr Jiménez.

If the maintaining of history was at stake, the environmental heritage became a greater hurdle to overcome for the marina project.

There is a 200-square-meter patch of coral reef some 150 meters from the outer edge of the marina that harbors the only reported coral in the eastern Pacific, the Leptoseris papyracea reef, and the only living population of the Fungia (Cycloseris) curvata in the world. All this, at a relatively shallow depth of five meters.

Giovanni Bassey Fallas, the project’s environmental advisor, and an expert on coral reefs, was called in to address the issue.

“There aren’t any critical ecosystems in the Bay nor endangered species in the bay,” he said, “but we are concerned about the coral reef.”

“We are taking measures not to affect the reef during the construction. We have put in place anti-turbulence curtains to block materials from the construction that can stop sediment and debris from reaching the reef or other ecosystems,” says Mr Bassey.

“But we are monitoring the coral. It’s our jewel to protect,” he says, adding that the fragile area will be cordoned off and strictly monitored.

Mr Bassey knows he’s got a tough battle, for the coral systems along the Pacific are suffering from a general whitening of the colonies.

“The colonies are all already affected due to modified marine conditions like the El Niño phenomenon,” he explains adding that the reefs thrive under strict temperature ranges.

The Marina Papapayo project began innocuously enough in June of 2003 with the filing of a preliminary environmental study form before SETENA, the National Technical Secretariat of the Ministry of Environment. 

This, after studies showed that amongst nine sites, Bahía Manzanillo was the most apt with ideal depths of up to 32 meters and beating out other candidates such as the beaches at Nacascolo South and Bahía Huevos.

“Bahía Culebra is known to have been used by US warships until well after World War II for its depths,” Mr Kopper pointed out. “Playa Sombrero is the best qualified location for the floor, wave, and cover conditions were optimum at the site.”

The oceanographic studies were done by CIMAR, the Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias del Mar y Liminologia or Oceanic Research Center.

Mr Kopper also traveled extensively to other marinas in the world to get first-hand knowledge of the worst that could happen. For example, in the US he first visited marinas that had been affected by natural disasters.

“When we do get hurricanes in Costa Rica, the most we have gotten on this coast is heavy precipitation,” he added.

The first stage of the project contemplates heavy land movement, 170 docking slips, and a 1,500-square-meter commercial area which includes customs and an immigration office.
The marina is expected to inaugurate its first phase in January 2009.

The second stage will have 212 additional slips and180 spots for storage of vessels. This last will be in conjunction with a crane-like machine to lift boats from the water and store them.

Mr Kopper awaits the heavy machinery from the firm engineering firm MECO, which is expected on the site in the next days. And therein may lie the greatest challenge --- a 44-hectare concession, where around 300,000 cubic meters of fill is needed.

Jorge Vargas, construction manager for Construction Management Services (CMS), says a third of that may come from the dredging of the site. The Ministry of the Environment and Energy (MINAE) took almost a year to give the go ahead.

If he were to do it all again, what would he change?

“All we would want for the future is that the times for permits, established by law, are respected but that the processes not be changed,” said Mr Kopper.

This may be good news for other marinas to come, for just within the Polo Turístico de Papagayo’s Master Plan, there’s room for two more marinas.

Article by The Beach Times.

New Tourist Signage To Guide Visitors, Announced

Tourists will soon find it easier to move around the country and without getting lost or having to stop continually to ask for directions, as the ministra de Transportes, Karla González, annnounced yesterday the placing of some 1.300 "tourist signs" along the major highways.

The new signs are specifically geared to helping tourists get to and from their destinations, like providing direction and distance between points. The cost of the signs is estimated at ¢300 million colones (us$582.500), and will also provide tourists with information on monuments, parks, and tourist centres along the routes.

The new signs will be coffee coloured and will use symbols to indicate surf, beaches, fauna, tourist services, etc. The signs will also indicate the nearest hospitals, police stations and basic tourist information for both foreigners and residents.

The first signs will be erected in the San José - Peñas Blancas and San José - Limón routes and routes to the Guanacaste beachers, the Nicoya Peninsula and Quepos/Manuel Antonio, the main tourits routes today. Minister González added that in addition to the new signs, the road demarcation will be widened to include all the major routes in the country, but will all depend on the financial resources available after the first phase of this ambitious project.

Minister González said that in addition to visitors knowing where they are headed, it is important that they also enjoy some of the important points and adventures of the country.

According to the minister, money is also being invested in providing good roads and looking for "legal" and creative ways to better maintain the roads, including reaching agreements with hotel and tourist operators, without incurring additional costs.

The ministro de Turismo (Tourism minister), Carlos Ricardo Benavides, added that the new signs will be made of galvanized steel instead of the aluminum and other metals, that unfortunately is part of the Costa Rican reality, are stolen. To that end, Benavides said that he had been giving consideration to a plan to reach an agreement with area hotels to keep and eye and maintain signs within 200 metres of them, though he offered no details on the idea.

Minister Benavides said that the country cannot permit visitors to lose great amounts of time trying to find their way to the national parks, beaches, etc.

The president of the Cámara de Turismo (tourism chamber), Gonzalo Vargas, added that the move is an important one, but the country still lacks in infrastructure.

COMMERCIAL PROJECT AND HOSPITAL MOVING AHEAD IN GUANACASTE

Construction of the Edica complex across from the Daniel Oduber International airport in Liberia is moving at a firm pace. The complex will have a hotel, two banking centres, offices, and a hospital with a heliport, all at a cost of some us$300 million dollars.

The project is called "Solarium" and is being built on 104 hectares of land, that will include a "zona franca" (free trade zone), warehouses, a gasoline station and 800 condominiums. The project is being built by the construction company Edica.

"Guanacaste is developing as an area for recreational tourism, however, we have not overlooked the need for services. With this project we want to offer health and business services", said Silvana Batalla, director of Solarium.

Batalla added that the project, waiting on the infrastructure to catch up, will be finished within six years. However, some of the seven stages of the project will be ready by the end of 2007.

"Construction on the 'ofibodegas' (office/warehouses) began last year and should be ready by September, as well the construction of the hospital will begin in February and is expected to be open by December", said Batalla.

According to the director, Solarium will create some 15.000 direct jobs in the area. "Guanacastecos have to prepare themselves for this growth", commented Batalla.

Residents and organizations of the area where the "new city" is being built will have to prepare themselves fro the challenges ahead in the face of this development.

"The need to widen the road in front of the airport and the need to increase services that a predominantly foreign population will require will be our primarily concern" assured Mauricio Céspedes, director of the Cámara Guanacasteca de Turismo (Guanacaste chamber of tourism).

Gadi Amith, member of the Federación para la Conservación del Ambiente (environmental conservation federation) expressed concern over the possible lack of potable water for the area due to the size of the project.

However, Batalla indicated that the developers have looked at all these things, including the project having three wells to service the needs of the development.

For his part, Ricardo Samper, mayor of Liberia, said he is not concerned over the demand for services, saying that the developers have planned for them and that the development will be a boom to the commercial sector in the area.

Hilton Hotels Corporation signs first Hilton and Doubletree management agreements in Costa Rica

Hilton Hotels Corporation (NYSE:HLT) has announced that it has signed multi-year management agreements with the Caribbean Real Estate Opportunity Fund 2005 (the “Fund”) for two resorts in Costa Rica. Beginning in December 2007, the Company will manage a 202-room property in Guanacaste and a 410-room property Puntarenas as the first Hilton and Doubletree branded resorts in the country, respectively. In an effort to implement all brand standards, both resorts will undergo extensive renovations to all areas including guestrooms, leisure facilities, lobby, meeting rooms, and restaurants.

“These additions solidify our expansion efforts in Central America and support our growth strategy to bring the Hilton Family of Hotels into the region,” said Danny Hughes, area vice president, Caribbean and Central America, for Hilton Hotels Corporation. “Costa Rica is one of the top eco-tourism destinations in the world, with visitor arrivals growing more each year. We want to support the country’s tourism growth and welcome guests to experience the biodiversity that makes Costa Rica such an amazing place to be.”

The first Doubletree hotel in Costa Rica, Premier Fiesta Resort and Spa in Papagayo, will be enamed Hilton Papagayo Resort. With 202 rooms, including 71 private bungalows, guests enjoy plush accommodation with panoramic views surrounded by nature. The hotel, located on a private beach on the Bay of Papagayo in Guanacaste, just 20 minutes from Liberia International Airport, features two outdoor swimming pools, non-motorized water sports, spa, fitness center, tennis courts, kid’s club, three restaurants, two bars, casino, and nightly entertainment.

With an area of 6,933 square miles, Guanacaste, Costa Rica, is home to a world of natural oundings, including white, black, and pink shell beaches, national parks and wildlife refuges, coral reefs, deciduous and tropical forests, and volcanoes. The province is perfect for fishing, diving, biking, hiking, and more.

“This management agreement in Guanacaste is a terrific example of Hilton Hotels’ commitment to expanding its guest offerings by partnering with diverse hoteliers who believe in the strength of our global brand,” said Jeff Diskin, senior vice president – brand management & marketing for Hilton Hotels. “Through this agreement the property will now offer unique, local experiences alongside the standard upscale amenities our guests have come to expect and love.”

Hilton and Doubletree Sign Management Agreements for All-Inclusive Resorts In Costa Rica The Fiesta Resort in Puntarenas will be renamed the Doubletree by Hilton Puntarenas Resort. The 410-room all-inclusive resort, located one and a half hours from San Jose’s Juan Santamaria nternational Airport and two hours from Liberia International Airport, offers four dining outlets, seven bars, pool, beach, fitness center, tennis courts, kid’s club, non-motorized water sports, casino, nightly entertainment, and easy access to nearby national parks and biological reserves, rainforests, volcanoes and beaches.

Puntarenas, the largest province of Costa Rica, and formerly known as the country’s main fishing port, is the perfect place to enjoy a day of fishing. The coast, decorated by islands and beaches, offers visitors a chance to experience pristine nature. Tourists can also enjoy a range of attractions, as Puntarenas is the starting point for many excursions.

"Doubletree Hotels continues to expand its upscale, full-service hotel portfolio at a solid pace. This newest management agreement in Puntarenas, Costa Rica reinforces our pride in Doubletree being recognized by hotel owners and developers as a dynamic, credible and lucrative hotel brand for hoteliers across the Western Hemisphere and around the world,” said Dave Horton, senior vice president – brand management for Doubletree Hotels.

"We are delighted to announce that our two first resorts in Costa Rica will become part of the Hilton Family of Hotels,” said Kenneth Blatt, principal of Caribbean Property Group. Ruben Pacheco, president of Enjoy Group added, “With such a strong marketing, sales and technology infrastructure, as well as the value added benefit of the highly acclaimed Hilton HHonors guest reward program, we believe our new Hilton and Doubletree by Hilton affiliations will lead to great recognition and success for our resorts, both domestically and internationally.”

New project in Coco

U.S. real estate developer sets sights on Costa Rica For the past 52 years, The Jack Parker Corporation has used phrases such as “luxury living”, “breathtaking views”, and “waterfront paradise” to entice buyers to purchase its high-rise condominiums in New York and residential projects along both coats of Florida. But a slowing real estate market, runaway home prices, and the disappearance of land have prompted the privately-owned real estate development company to take these phrases elsewhere – approximately 1,200 miles south to what CNBC called “the hottest real estate market on the planet”. And they are betting U.S. buyers will follow. Sales began January 6, 2007 for Pacifico, the company’s 175-acre, mixed-use development in Playas del Coco, located along the Northwest Pacific coast 22 miles from the international airport in Liberia, which offers non-stop flights daily to and from major U.S. cities including Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and L.A. “Costa Rica offers what many consider no longer available in Florida and other popular second home markets – available land at an affordable price”, said Kerry Trowbridge, senior vice president for The Jack Parker Corporation. ”Combined with lower construction costs, ample labor and a welcoming government, it seems only logical that U.S. home builders and buyers are being lured to this less expensive paradise”. The 500 residences within Pacifico –a collection of 350 condominiums, town homes, and villas; 20 rental apartments, and 150 home sites – combine Mediterranean architecture with coastal design elements and are being built to U.S. standards, offering custom cabinetry, Kohler fixtures, Whirlpool appliances, and pre-wiring phone, cable TV and Internet access. The first units are schedule for completion in March 2007.

Article by The Guanacaste Journal 11/01/07

Carrillo Announces $2m dock for Coco

By Zoraida Diaz

Mayor Says Public Works Tender Released by January

The Municipality of Carrillo last week released plans for a $2 million multi-purpose dock to service cruise ships, pleasure craft and commercial fishermen.

About 50 municipal staff, tourist leaders and developers heard Friday the 45-meter (150 feet) dock will be awarded in concession, with a developer winning the right to build and operate the facility.
The structure, designed and presented by the architectural firm of Costa Rica Marina Consultants (CMC), will be concrete-covered and sit on steel pylons along the rocky beach terrain between Playita Blanca and Playas del Coco. The dock will be supported by a small sea wall.

“We have the approvals,” said the Mayor of Carrillo, José Maria Guevara Navarrete.

“This project has been approved by the ICT (Institute of Tourism), the port division of the Ministry of Transport, INVU (the National Institute of Housing and Urban Development) and the municipality.”

The tender process could begin as early as January, with work beginning in July.
Architect Oscar Villavicencio Blanco described the facility as a small port which would include facilities for loading and unloading passengers and cargo, refueling, maintenance and minor marine repairs.

There will be a concrete ramp for launching trailer-mounted boats.

“There will also be a black water treatment plant for the boats with a service of garbage collection, which will help improve the environmental conditions of Playas del Coco,” Mr Villavicencio said.

The facility will also allow for a water taxi service between key tourist towns like Coco, Tamarindo, Flamingo, Hermosa and Papagayo.

Critically, the new facility will allow cruise ships to dock, unload passengers and refuel.
“This will give the canton a third entry option, over and above air and land,” said Mayor Guevara.

Two years ago, and following the closure of Flamingo Marina, the Windstar luxury cruise line began docking in Playas del Coco. Last season they ran 22 voyages to Costa Rica, but all of them beach-landed their passengers.

A modern dock, where the cruise line’s mainly elderly clientele can disembark, will further cement the destination. Windstar expects to increase its number of cruises by as much as 35 per cent this season.

The municipality’s decision to build a multi-purpose dock was first mooted late 2004 when they put aside $135,000 for the project. However, in something of a coup it has managed to turn that into a $2 million facility, which will be largely financed by private enterprise, with Carrillo earning valuable revenue from leasing the land in concession.

Further, in another plus, the municipality will side-step a lengthy permitting process by using documents which already exist. It sought proposals on how to build the dock from the two groups --- Administradora Bello Horizonte S.A., and the Asociacion de Marinas de Playas del Coco, or ASODEMAC --- vying to build a $30 million, 400-slip marina in much the same area.

The two development groups, who have since amalgamated their bid and are looking for a fast-track through the municipality, were only too happy to comply. Carrillo now has information like the strength of currents, wave action and tide behavior plus topographic drawings of the sea floor.

“It was a very well thought out idea because it meant that the dock would not interfere with the projected marina development,” said Mr Villavicencio.

“The municipality also saved a lot of money because they took advantage of the studies previously done by those groups.”

In fact the same access road gazetted for the proposed marina, will now be used for the municipal dock. And, whereas the marina falls under laws of the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo and thus can only be used for tourist activity, the municipal dock will service the town’s fishing industry.

“There is definitely a need for this kind of facility in Playas del Coco,” said Oscar Villalobos, the technical director of Comisión Interinstitutional de Marinas y Atracaderos Turísticos, (or CIMAT), the government department charged with overseeing all technical aspects of tourist marinas.

CIMAT has had little involvement with the public dock --- it is outside its jurisdiction --- but wants to make sure this and the proposed marina do not interfere with one another.

“This dock is a way to put in order the disorder that exists with commercial fishing and pleasure craft in the area.”

Article published by The Beach Times

Another Resort is announced for Papagayo

By Zoraida Diaz

$ 120 Million Luxury Hotel is touted as Model Development

Two Minnesota developers announced this week they are to build a $120 million, 150-room luxury hotel on Guanacaste's Papagayo Peninsula.

The Regent Punta de Papagayo, to be built on some of the last remaining concession land within the Papagayo tourism project known as Polo Turí­stico, is the fifth, five-star resort project to be announced along the Pacific coast in the past 12 months.

Richard Pakonen and Blaine Kirchert are to team up with Regent International Hotels and the respected Costa Rican architect, Ronald Zurcher, to build and manage the project which will include the hotel, 86 condominiums, 20 luxury estates and a giant spa.

The 22-hectare site (about 60 acres) overlooks Peninsula Papagayo and Bahí­a Culebra and includes three beaches.

The developers say they hope to start construction within 12 months and want the hotel operational by early, 2009.

"We're excited to be here" said Richard Pakonen, of Kirchert Pakonen Ltda. "The most important part was the inclusion of partners. Regent is a big deal "it's a socially responsible company."

His partner, Blaine Kirchert, said many hotels had approached the group, but Regent had offered the greatest deal.

"They expressed they wanted an interaction with the community" Mr Kirchert said.
Regent opened its first hotel in Oahu, Hawaii, in 1970. There are now six Regent hotels and resorts worldwide, with at least nine new properties scheduled for completion in the next four years.

Regent is part of Carlson Hospitality Worldwide, which has extensive cruise ship interests. The Punta de Papagayo project will be the group's first hotel in Latin America.

For Costa Rica's government however, the hotel project represents more of the much-needed foreign investment, which was key to President Oscar Arias's election campaign. For Mr Arias, tourism means investment, which means jobs, which means education.

"The goal we want to offer investors is to have students stay in schools a lot longer than they now do" President Arias told about 60 people at a luncheon to launch the new project.
"We want to make education mandatory up to 17 years of age."

President Arias urged increased investment in the tourism sector, pointing out the highest foreign investment in the world is in the United States, worth about $300 billion dollars. "Singapore moves $22 billion dollars" the President said. "In Costa Rica, we have $700 million, or about $170 per person. We want to raise this amount to $500 per person by the year 2010.

"If we give them (investors) security, improve our infrastructure, make our economy more competitive, improve our education and our level of technology, then we can work towards opening 300,000 jobs in the next five years" he said.

"That's 60 to 65,000 new jobs each year."

The developers are not putting a value on the project, but Tourism Minister, Carlos Ricardo Benavides, said the total investment would exceed $100 million, possibly as much as $120 million.

Mr Benavides said the government wanted to avoid what happened in 2004 when tourists were being turned away because there was a lack of hotel rooms.

However because this projects sits within the government-controlled Polo Turí­stico concession, there are likely to be strict controls over land-use.

"We are being careful with this project" Mr Benavides told The Beach Times after the launch.
"There is a maximum height allowed of four floors (in fact architects say the hotel will be just two floors), and there is strict water management by the development unit of the Gulf of Papagayo."

The developers are also confronted with an unusual problem.

Architect Ronald Zurcher, who also designed the Four Seasons Resort in the same neighborhood, said pre-Colombian artifacts had been found at the building site, including some jade arrowheads and some small ceramic pieces.

"We have used extreme care in rescuing these pre-Columbian artifacts" he said during a presentation, which included slides of some of the pieces found.

"Most of the artifacts have been found in a wooded area, and we mean to preserve that area as a reserve" he said.

Mr Zurcher said they had contracted an archeologist approved by the National Museum, and there had been extensive sampling of the area, every 30 centimeters (about 12 inches).
In the past 12 months developers have announced at least five, five-star hotel or resort projects including the $45 million J.W. Marriott in Hacienda Pinilla, the $300 million Hyatt Regency in Brasilito (both in Guanacaste) and the $300 million Bahí­a Escondida resort and marina project in Golfito, Puntarenas.

Article published by The Beach Times

Costa Rica Property finacing

Purchase foreign real estate in your IRA:

Your IRA CAN buy real estate in    Costa Rica

If you are looking at real estate overseas, or for a way to get better returns in your IRA, here is little secret your stock broker will never tell you about...

The IRS lets you purchase real estate with income that is tax-deferred. That means that many savvy investors are investing their IRA funds in real estate.

This is a great way to beat the ups and downs in the stock market, to diversify your portfolio or to provide a stable income as you transition from riskier investments.

How Can You Do This?

The rules governing the ownership of real estate in Costa Rica this way are simple. First, you may purchase practically any real estate you can imagine: raw land, condos, office buildings, single or multi-family homes, apartment buildings and improved land. You can also own a fraction of real estate, with other entities or investors owning other fractions. You can purchase an option on the real estate or you can buy outright using a land trust, L.L.C., or similar entity. Also, you can rollover your IRA, so you are buying the real estate with retirement assets. 

The Main Limitation

The one exception is that you can't use the Costa Rican real estate in your IRA as your residence or vacation home, if you are under 59 & 1/2. This is logical, since your retirement funds are tax deferred and are meant to be used for your retirement In other words it can be any kind of property, but you can't use it personally, unless you are already retired and take the amount as a distribution.

Other Limitations

Your business can't lease space in your IRA-held property. You cannot place real estate that you already own into your IRA. Your spouse, your parents, or your children also couldn't have been the previous owners of the real estate. Property owned by siblings may be allowed, since the Internal Revenue Code (section 4975) specifies that only "lineal descendents" be disqualified.

Buying the Property

Your IRA custodian must actually buy the real estate you are investing in. So, the title will really be in their name, not yours. You may put up the deposit with your personal funds, in order to reserve the property until the legal structure is in place, in this case you have to be sure you include that amount in the total due so you get your money back from your IRA at closing.

How you can set up the account – the IRA custodian

You will need an independent IRA custodian that allows real estate investments and work with that company to set up an IRA account. Most banks and brokerage companies, limit your choices to products they sell. However, section 408 of the Internal Revenue Code permits individuals to purchase real estate with funds held in many common forms of IRAs, including a traditional IRA, a Roth IRA , and a Simplified Employee Pension plan, or SEP-IRA.

To find a custodian that specializes in real estate, search under terms such as "real estate IRA" or "self-directed IRA." In Costa Rica, your realtor or the developer may be able to help you find a reputable tax attorney or organization that can assist you with this. You can't serve as the custodian of your own account. It is important to select a custodian knowledgeable about the types of investment you're interested in, because the custodian holds title to the real estate. It is vital that you find a custodian who will permit foreign property or leveraged property.  

What if your IRA doesn't have enough money?

If the property is financed, you must structure the purchase correctly so as to avoid adverse tax consequences down the road. Also keep in mind that if the property is leveraged, the debt must be a non-recourse promissory note. But it is possible for your IRA to take on a debt. Another way is to purchase an interest in the property along with others, such as a spouse, business associate, or friend.

Operating property in your IRA

Because all property expenses, including taxes, insurance, and repairs, must be paid from funds in your IRA, you'll need liquid funds available in your account. Of course, all income generated from the property will be deposited in your IRA account so you might use that money to cover your costs. Or you can make annual contributions within federal guidelines: $3,000 annually to a traditional or Roth IRA ($3,500 if you're age 50 or older); and as much as 25 percent of your annual compensation, up to $40,000, if you're a self-employed individual with a SEP-IRA. If your account doesn't have funds to cover property expenses, you will have to withdraw the property from your IRA and pay taxes on the value of the property, as well as possible penalties for early withdrawal.

Selling the property

The buyer cannot be a family member. Once a deal closes, your IRA account now holds the cash — ready for you to make your next move. A great way to build up your retirement fund is to sell property with seller financing so that all payments made by the buyers are paid to the IRA.

Distributing your property

You can withdraw real estate in Costa Rica from your IRA and use it as a residence or second home when you reach retirement age (age 59½ or older for a penalty-free withdrawal). Either the IRA can sell the property, or you can take an in-kind distribution of the property. In that case your IRA custodian transfers the property title to you. If you expect the property to appreciate and you want to eventually take it as a distribution, then the Roth IRA is your best vehicle (see below) Whether your retirement strategy is to hold properties or buy and sell for gain, real estate investing through your IRA can yield extraordinary returns toward your future retirement.

IRA Options

* A traditional IRA lets you deduct annual contributions (currently set at $3,000, or $3,500 if you're age 50 or older) from your income. However, once you begin withdrawing money, those funds will be taxed as regular income.

* A Roth IRA gives you no deduction on your current contributions (again $3,000), but does allow you to withdraw funds tax-free. If you expect to buy a real estate investment in an IRA and hold it for a long period, this is probably your best option, particularly if the property increases in value over that period. If the property was held in a traditional IRA, you have to pay income taxes on the current value of the property when you sell it or take it as a distribution. With a Roth IRA, you won't owe taxes at distribution; this is the best way if you anticipate that your real estate investments will appreciate over time.

* A SEP-IRA is designed for self-employed individuals and small companies. You can contribute up to 25 percent of your compensation, or $40,000, whichever is less. However, keep in mind that if you have employees, you must make contributions for them as well. This option is a great alternative for real estate practitioners who can make the higher contributions because they can build up funds more rapidly to purchase properties. Withdrawals from a SEP-IRA are treated like those of a traditional IRA for tax purposes.